Life of Diana Phantom REWRITE
by JackandDannysGirl
Summary: I'm rewriting my first fanfic, Life of Diana Phantom. There will be significant differences between the two as I'm changing alot. But I'm certain this version will be 10 times better.
1. Chapter 1

The once busy, lively streets of Amity Park were now in disarray and vacant. There was no sign of any life left in the city. Houses were in flames and slowly burning to the ground while small patches of now dried brown grass had caught fire as well. Electrical cords had snapped, which most likely started the fires. The buildings downtown were either a pile of cement and metal on the ground or on the brink of collapsing. Pot holes littered the streets and scattered ashes rained down from the sky like a gentle black snow. In short, the town had become the very definition of disaster area.

Among the ruble and destruction sat a young girl, the only survivor of the event it seemed. She sat on her bloody knees, tears streaming down her scratched face, and hugged herself tightly around her chest. She let all this happen. She was to blame. If only she could've defeated the evil before it spread.

Her black hair wisped around in the wind, gently slapping her arms and face. She didn't have the desire to brush the dark locks away. She wasn't really thinking about it to begin with. There were more important things to think about, like when her time to die would come. It would be anytime now, she could already tell.

Along with her hair, a voice traveled with the wind. The heartbroken girl sat stiffly as the quiet, gentle voice reached her ear. It sounded so close. She looked around but she was the only soul left, as she had observed for quite some time. The voice whispered to her again.

"Diana…"

It was louder this time. The girl registered the name; her name. She became more aware of the voice as it got louder, still repeating her name. The voice sounded familiar. After hearing her name being called one more time she finally realized that it was the voice of her father. But that was impossible; he had died along with the others in this catastrophe, the catastrophe that was all her fault. In a sense it was her that had killed them all, not the monster that she let get away. Sure, he had been the one to shed the blood but it was her being too weak to stop him that was the real cause of this.

The thought sent more tears to her eyes. She heard the voice again. The voice sounded louder and persistent this time. She took the hint and slowly stood up. Her aching body yelled at her to sit back down but she ignored the pain in her sore legs and abdomen and rose to her feet. It took a moment to find her balance and recover from her spinning head, but once her dizzy spell had passed she stood tall and listened for the voice again.

Right on cue, the voice whispered in her ear again. Diana looked around the barren wasteland. Up ahead two buildings were still standing and in between them a dark alleyway. The voice was coming from there. Diana commanded her battered body to move and slowly approached the alleyway. She peered down into the darkness hoping to find the source of her caller. But there was no one there.

Finding this strange, she curiously made her way down the alleyway. She looked around but there was nowhere the voice could come from. There was nobody here, not even a rat scurrying along. Diana touched the scorched brick wall and leaned against it, loosing strength again. She closed her eyes and laid her head against the cold building.

Just then a cool wind picked up. Diana's hair blew back around her face and the cold wind sent shivers up her spine.

"Diana."

The voice had returned. Diana looked around but there was still no one in the alleyway except for her. The cold wind blew again and it sent her off balance. She fell to the ground and winced in pain. She glanced ahead of her at the opening to the alleyway she had entered though. The wind blew again and a shadowy figure appeared. In a few seconds it materialized enough to reveal a human silhouette though the figure was still a black shadow with no revealing detail. It blocked the end of the alleyway, trapping Diana in a dead end.

Diana stared at it in fear as the shadowy figure floated closer to her. Its red eyes flashed angrily. The air became ice cold with the shadow's presence.

"You live?" The shadow groaned coldly. "How dare you continue to live!"

Diana's eyes widened. She knew this voice as well, but it wasn't the pleasant, calming voice of her father. No, this was the voice she wanted to forget existed. She knew instantly that this was the monster that she unintentionally let get away. And this terrified her to no end.

The shadowy monster continued to glare at her and snarled. He charged at Diana, sending her straight into the brick wall at the end of the alley. Her head ached at the sudden impact with the brick. She moaned quietly in pain and opened her eyes. The monster had her in his grasp, laughing at her pain.

"The rest of them are dead, your father included," The monster growled. "I let you get away before but not this time." The shadow creature raised a claw to Diana's throat, ready to slice it in a matter of seconds. "This time I have you right where I want you. This time you will die like you were meant to all along."

Diana was unable to move or even scream. The shadow gripped her throat tightly. Diana coughed and choked as she tried to breathe. Screaming was even more out of the question now. She'd die silently, the last of her family. A tear slid silently down her cheek.

I'm sorry, Dad. She thought. I'm sorry.

The shadowy monster clutched her throat tighter and tighter, crushing her windpipe. Diana didn't fight it any longer, there wasn't a point. She'd lost. She felt the razor sharp claws sink into her neck. Bright red blood flowed from the wounds. Diana winced slightly at the pain but then embraced it. She prepared herself for what she knew was the ending of her life. The shadow squeezed Diana's throat until her head was finally cut from her neck. Then her world went black.

I'm sorry…so sorry…

The loud buzzing of Diana Fenton's alarm clock woke her from her sleep. She had the blankets pulled up over her head and her face buried in her pillow. She slowly opened her eyes and glared at her clock. 7:45 am, it blinked at her in bright red numbers. Diana moaned at the early hour it revealed. Ew, Diana thought. She slammed her fist on the alarm clock. When it didn't shut off the first time she pounded on it until it was silent. She whacked the clock off the nightstand and it crashed to her bedroom floor.

Diana slowly sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. She then remembered her dream. She shuttered at the images of the shadowy figure that ran through her head. She looked around her room. Multiple movie and rock band posters decorated her walls, covering a layer of faded light blue paint that was added many years ago in Diana's youth. Her desk sat in the corner. Meant for homework, was covered in tossed aside clothes and random things that Diana had long forgotten about, leaving no room for any work to be done at all.

Unwillingly, Diana pulled herself out of her bed and sleepily walked to her closet. A full length mirror was attached to the door and Diana placed a hand on it as she examined herself. Her long raven hair was a mess, as it usually was in the morning, and her half-awake violet eyes had bags under them. But there were no scratches on her face, proving that her nightmare was indeed a nightmare.

The teenage girl sighed as she opened her closet and picked out her clothes for the day. She stripped herself of her light blue crescent moon pajamas and changed into a pair of gray jeans and purple top with a small skull on it.

Now dressed, Diana slowly made her way to the bathroom. She stopped at the sink and splashed her face with cold water. It helped wake her up but didn't quite do the trick. After drying her face off she brushed through her tangled hair. She frowned and winced as she tugged out the tangles. She shook her hair once it was all brushed to get it lying how she liked it. Diana was about to apply her eyeliner when the screeches of her little brother were heard. Diana jumped at this and accidently poked her eye with the eyeliner pencil. "Ow!" Diana cried.

She grabbed a tissue to wipe the stray makeup marks away. She heard approaching footsteps and looked up to see her mother, Samantha. Sam was now holding Diana's now awake baby brother.

Why her parents would ever want another child when they had a teenage daughter that would be out of their hair in a matter of years made no sense to Diana. Though then again, she figured that was what you get for being careless in the bedroom. Then that thought made Diana cringe.

"Good morning." Sam greeted her daughter.

Diana stared, not very amused at her mother. "Uh huh, good…" She groaned as she finished wiping the stray eyeliner marks from her face.

Sam laughed a bit to herself. "Hurry up, you're running late."

"Aren't I always running late?"

"That's true." Sam said. She turned to leave but looked back at Diana. "Breakfast is on the table by the way."

"Uh huh." Diana answered, still a bit groggy. She applied the eyeliner the right way then left the bathroom and headed downstairs.

Indeed, breakfast was set on the table. Immediately Diana figured out that it was her mother that made breakfast this time due to the lack of eggs and sausage. In Diana's spot on the kitchen table sat a plate of toast, a bowl of cereal and an orange. Her father would occasionally make breakfast which would sometimes include eggs and the like. He tried to persuade Sam to at least try to switch over to a non vegetarian diet but to no prevail. After awhile he'd given up but would occasionally tease her about her lifestyle. That usually ended in a smack upside the head.

Whether mom or dad made breakfast, it didn't matter to Diana. Food was food and she ate what she was given.

Just as Diana was finishing her cereal, Sam walked in dressed for work and carrying Diana's brother.

"I'm taking Bill to the babysitter's," Sam told her. "Your father's taking you to school."

"Okay," Diana answered. "He's in the basement I take it?"

Sam nodded. "He's working on another gadget."

"Of course."

Diana had known all her life that her father was the superhero Danny Phantom. When she first started school Diana got some recognition because of who her parents were. But after the other children saw that she herself was nothing special, the praise and amazement stopped. Since Diana could remember, her father worked as a ghost hunter alongside his parents. Danny built a ghost lab of his own in their basement and was usually down there working on ghost hunting equipment either he designed himself or was created by Diana's Grampa Jack and was in need of some tuning.

With the ghost hunting of both her parents, Diana became interested immediately. She was usually not involved with the hunting what with the great concern of her parents. Her safety was what they feared most. They always gave excuses why she couldn't help them fight. When she was a child it was that she was too young. As she grew older it was that they had new equipment she didn't know how to use and never found the time to teach her. When Diana finally figured she was old enough to help them what happened to stop that idea dead in its tracks than the birth of her brother, Bill. Now it was that she had to watch her brother and make sure he wasn't hurt. Of course she knew that both of their safeties meant everything to them but still she felt hurt and left out when she had to stand by and watch.

If she had ghost powers like her father it would be different. They would see that she could fight on her own and take care of herself. They wouldn't worry about her because she could protect herself with her powers. She could help them fight off the ghosts and it would go faster if not smoother. But she didn't have ghost powers. She hated the hard truth. Diana would often wake up in the morning as a child and hope that she would have gained ghost powers that night, that they were just late in showing up. But it never happened and Diana had given up that dream.

Sam grabbed her bag and opened the front door. "Bye, Diana. Have a good day at school."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "_Good_ day at _SCHOOL_?" She laughed.

Sam laughed with her. "Well, as good of a day as you can have there."

"All right, bye Mom. Bye Billy."

Bill looked over Sam's shoulder and smiled and cooed at Diana. Diana returned the blue eyed toddler's smile and waved to her brother as they walked out the door.

Diana finished up her breakfast then walked downstairs to find her dad. He was sitting at his desk tinkering with an ecto-foamer. She descended the stairs and walked over to him.

"Um, Dad, Mom left for work already and she said for you to take me to school."

Danny looked up from his work. "Oh. Okay. I'll be right up."

"By 'be right up' you mean I'll be up in another hour? I don't really have that much time today." Diana said.

Danny rolled his eyes and dropped the ecto-foamer, now annoyed. "Fine, I'll be up now."

Diana smiled a bit, hoping to get him in a better mood. After seeing her father's face lighten a bit, she climbed the stairs.

She entered the kitchen to gather her things for school. She grabbed her school bag off the floor and pulled on her blue sneakers. Just as she had gotten herself ready, Danny walked into the kitchen and grabbed the car keys from the counter.

Diana frowned at this. "Dad, you know you could always fly me to school."

Danny shook his head. "No, I'll drive you. We have enough time."

"So? You could still fly me."

"I said no, Diana," Danny told her, getting annoyed again. "It'd cause unwanted attention."

Diana groaned. "Fine, whatever."

Danny saw his daughter's pout then walked over to her and patted her on the head. He smiled. "I'll fly you another time." He promised. Danny opened the front door and stepped out.

"Yeah, that's what you said last time." Diana said sadly to herself. She followed him out to the car and got in.

After fifteen speechless minutes, Danny pulled up to the front of Casper High. Diana opened the car door and stepped out. Danny rolled down the car window and waved to her. "Have a good day." He smiled. Diana waved back to him as he drove away.

Diana walked around the school to the football field, her usual meeting spot for her friends. As she approached the bleachers she spotted her three cohorts. Kelly Baxter was the first to notice her arrival.

She smirked in Diana's direction. "Well, well, late as usual." Kelly flipped her blonde ponytail over her shoulder and put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Sorry." Diana mumbled, a bit irritated with Kelly's tone.

"Sleep late again?" asked Michael, Kelly's younger brother.

"Yes, though I've slept in later than this before, remember?" Diana laughed.

The third student, Whittany Foley, adjusted her glasses and looked at Diana. "That's because of your nocturnal sleeping habits. You really should stop that. It's not good to deprive yourself of sleep like that." Whittany said in her usual quiet voice.

Diana rolled her eyes. "Whit, I don't judge you so you don't judge me, okay?"

Whittany stared at her friend a moment, unsure how to answer.

Diana laughed. "I'm just kidding, Whit."

Whittany laughed a bit herself. "Oh, right." She still sounded a bit unsure.

Kelly looked over her shoulder as someone called to her. She waved to one of the football jocks that passed by. She smiled her dreamy daydream smile she always wore when thinking about the guys at Casper.

Diana watched the jock and his group of self-absorbed friends walk away then looked at Kelly. "You've got another one?" She asked unimpressed. "What is that, like, the tenth one this week?"

Kelly grinned. "Close, try eighth."

"Oh gosh…" Diana groaned.

Kelly Baxter was cheerleading captain of the Casper High cheer team and hands down the most popular girl in school, no doubt taking her mother, Paulina's, place at Casper. She could get any guy she wanted all to herself and even the guys she didn't want she could get with a snap of her fingers. Diana extremely disliked Kelly's self obsessed personality sometimes and how they were even friends to begin with was hard to believe. If the Baxter family hadn't lived next door to the Fentons in Diana's youth they would've never known the other existed. The arranged play dates of the Baxter children and Diana were all to blame for their current friendship. How Diana and Kelly were still friends now was mostly because of Kelly's brother Michael. He was sort of like the glue between them. Whenever they'd fight he'd always know how to fix everything. Diana couldn't say that Kelly was her best friend and truth be told both girls grew less fond of each other as the days went by but they stuck together. Their small group of mishmash cliques wouldn't end quite yet, though it was only freshman year and too soon to tell.

Whittany smiled at Diana's reaction. "She's been filling me in all day."

"Me too, unfortunately." Michael groaned.

Diana giggled. "I'm sorry. Hey, are we all still hanging out after school?"

Michael frowned and winced. "Oh, sorry, I can't. I have soccer afterschool. Plus I have to get up for football practice tomorrow morning and I have to get homework done tonight.

Michael Baxter, like his father, Dash Baxter, was very much the athlete. He was in cross country, football and soccer. He was also planning to try out for basketball as well that year. He had always been swamped with sports games and practices since middle school so it was nothing new for any of them. Diana couldn't fathom how he could keep up with two sports at once and manage to get the good grades he somehow always got. Lucky for Michael it wasn't baseball season or he'd have that on his plate too.

The black haired teen pouted at this. "Aw. Well, I guess we could just have a girl's night." She suggested.

Whittany shook her head sadly. "I gotta go to the library after school. I'm working on my science fair project. I'm almost done and I'm on a roll."

Whittany Foley had inherited her smarts from her dad, Tucker. She always aced every class and test she'd ever taken and was constantly reading a book. She also inherited shy, awkward genes from her mother, Sonya's, side. Her mother and father had been high school sweethearts and had been together every since. But Whittany tried not to let her shyness stop her. Having the outgoing Kelly as a friend helped in that field. Kelly would push Whittany into conversations with her popular friends whether she wanted her to or not. Whitanny hated it when Kelly did that but she just couldn't win her battles and figured it best to let Kelly have her fun.

Diana frowned at this too then looked over at Kelly. She wasn't excited by the idea of just the two of them hanging out and apparently Kelly wasn't either.

"Yeah, I've got a thing I gotta get to after school." Kelly answered.

Diana sighed, though a bit relieved by Kelly's decline. "Great. Well, I'll find something to do I guess."

"You could always get started on your homework instead of doing it 5 minutes before it's due." Whittany joked.

Diana didn't see it as much of a joke. "Yeah, no." She plainly replied.

Kelly laughed, though not at what either of the girls had said. "Wow Diana, you really have no life, do you?"

Diana shrugged. "Guess I don't."

"Well you should get one before you disappear into the crowd of nobodies." Kelly warned, smirking.

"I don't think I'd care if that happened." Diana answered.

Kelly just shrugged as the bell rang.

"Well, better get inside." Michael said and made his way toward the school building. His sister followed behind him.

Diana sighed and slowly followed them. Whittany noticed Diana's slow pace and walked next to her.

"Are you alright, Diana?" Whittany asked. "You seem more out of it than usual today. Did you sleep well?"

Diana paused a moment, thinking about the nightmare. "No, I guess I didn't."

Whittany looked at her with concern. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Diana shook her head. "Nothing to say. It was just a dream."

The dark skinned bookworm nodded in understanding. "Well, maybe school will get your mind off of that." Whittany suggested.

Diana groaned. "Right, school's gonna fix everything. That'll be the day."


	2. Chapter 2

Diana arrived to her first class of the day; World History. Diana couldn't say any class was her favorite but the fact that both Kelly and Whittany joined her for this class made it a bit easier to get through.

Whittany and Diana were the same age while Kelly was a year older. Back in elementary school, Kelly's parents decided to hold her back which lead to the two Baxter siblings and Diana being in the same grade together. To this day it was shown wise that they did this and it definitely wouldn't have hurt to hold her back again. It probably would've helped her actually. Kelly was definitely not the brightest crayon in the box.

Diana took her assigned seat in the middle of the corner row of the classroom. Whittany followed her in and took her seat in front of her. Kelly sat on the other side of the classroom and slumped, bored, in her seat. After a few more minutes, the rest of the class entered the classroom and took their seats. The teacher had yet to arrive.

Whittany moved in her seat to look at Diana. "Where's Mrs. Happel?" She asked. Whittany was probably the only one concerned enough about the teacher's absence to ask. Diana just shrugged in response.

After a minute or two, an older man civilly walked into the classroom and stood before the students. "Hello class," The man said. "I'm Mr. Lancer and I will be substituting for Mrs. Happel."

The man's name sounded familiar to Diana. She thought a moment then figured it out. Whittany turned around again and whispered to Diana. "He said Lancer? Isn't that the old teacher that our parents had?"

Diana smiled. Whittany was thinking the same thing. "Yeah, pretty sure. I guess he's still doing the sub thing. Hopefully we'll get out alive."

Whittany giggled quietly. "I hope so too."

Mr. Lancer looked over at the two girls and glared at them. "You! Turn around!"

Whittany immediately obeyed and stared at her desk, ashamed. Diana found it all amusing.

"Now," Mr. Lancer began, "I'll start with roll call. Casey Aber?" He looked up to see if anyone would respond to the name.

"Here!" A female voice called from the back of the room.

Mr. Lancer crossed off the name and continued reading off the names. He had just gotten past Kelly's name when he was interrupted by someone at the door. He looked up to see the principal along with a teenage boy at her side.

"Ah, Principal Ishiyama, what do you have for us?" Lancer asked, trying to sound lively.

The Principal smiled in return. "Mrs. Happel has a new student." She gestured to the boy standing next to her. His blonde shaggy hair fell in his face and he wore a black t-shirt and jeans. From his ear dangled a silver earring. He didn't look the least bit interested in anything that was being said or that he wanted to be here. Diana could relate that much.

"Excellent. You just leave him with me." Mr. Lancer said.

After handing Mr. Lancer a sheet of paper, Principal Ishiyama left the classroom, leaving the apathetic blonde boy standing at the door.

Lancer studied the boy before speaking to him, "Well, what do we call you?" He looked down at the paper and read the name that was on the sheet. "Alexander Blade."

"Alex. It's Alex." The boy said, not sounding the least bit tolerant for the teacher's error.

"Right, Alex." Mr. Lancer said. "Well, I'm just substituting for Mrs. Happel today so I don't know where she'd want to put you. But for now you can sit over there." He pointed to the empty seat behind Diana.

"'Kay." The boy, Alex, began to walk toward the seat he was assigned to. He was interrupted, however, by Mr. Lancer.

"First, is there anything you'd like to say to the class? Introduce yourself?"

Alex stared blankly at the teacher. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Alex responded, rather coldly.

"Well, alright then." Mr. Lancer turned back to the list of students. "Now back to what I was doing. Tyler Draper?"

"Here!"

Diana watched as the new student made his way to his seat behind her. A piece of blonde hair fell in his eyes and he quickly brushed it away with his fingers. His face had little hint of the boyish features from his youth left in it and his eyes appeared very serious, though the chocolate brown color of his eyes were warm and inviting. He was definitely a cute one. Diana wondered how long it would take Kelly to snag this one. As Diana was contemplating this, she didn't hear her name being called.

"Diana Fenton!"

"Huh? Here!" Diana raised her hand.

Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow at her. "Fenton? Would this be any relation to one Daniel Fenton?" He asked, halfheartedly.

From the sound of Mr. Lancer's tone and the memory of her father's high school stories, relation to Danny didn't sound like a good thing. "How'd ya know?" Diana asked cheerfully.

Mr. Lancer glanced seriously at her. "Just a hunch." He finished roll call and entered the absent and present students into the computer. Once complete with that, Mr. Lancer grabbed a stack of papers from Mrs. Happel's desk. He passed them out to the students in the first rows and instructed them to pass them along.

"First we'll start the class off with a pop quiz." Lancer explained.

The whole class groaned with distaste.

Diana tapped Whittany on the shoulder and whispered. "This was definitely his idea. Happel never gives pop quizzes."

"You're right, but I'm sure it'll be fine." Whittany said.

Diana rolled her eyes. "'Cause you're prepared." She said, mostly to herself. She took the quiz papers as Whittany handed them to her. She unwillingly took one for herself then passed it back. When the papers weren't being taken from her hand, she looked back at the new kid behind her. She frowned when she saw him doodling on his desk, having no idea of her action. She lightly nudged his shoulder with the papers and he looked up at her, a bit confused.

"What do you want?"

"Uh, paper for you. Take it. I don't want it." Diana waved the papers at him.

Alex sighed. "Fine." He took the quizzes from her. Diana rolled her eyes and sat forward in her seat again.

Mr. Lancer took a seat at Mrs. Happel's desk. "You may begin. Bring your quizzes up front when you're done."

Good thing he hadn't said "when they're complete". Half of Diana's quiz would be blank, she could tell already.

Diana sighed and looked over the questions. The name of Alexander the Great's sister? Which civilization lasted 4,000 years? She had no clue. Diana rubbed her temples. "Who cares which civilization was oldest or what country so and so ruled?" Diana thought.

No longer caring about failing, Diana picked up her pencil and scribbled down answers that she was almost certain weren't right. She had almost completed writing down her answers when she noticed something. It felt as if she were being watched. She looked over her shoulder and frowned.

Indeed she was. Alex was looking over Diana's shoulder, now face to face with her.

"What are you doing?" Diana whispered.

"Move over. It's very difficult to copy you when your head's in the way." He answered calmly.

Diana frowned at his reply. "You're cheating off of me?"

"You really couldn't tell from what I just said?" Alex asked, chuckling a bit.

Diana scowled at his laughter. "Well quit it!" She covered her quiz paper with her hand.

"Nah, don't wanna." He grabbed for Diana's quiz but Diana elbowed him away. Alex frowned at this. "Don't be a baby." He reached for the paper again.

Diana smacked his hand. "Hey!"

"You're making his more complicated than it needs to be," Alex growled. "Just let me see it." He reached over Diana's shoulder to grab her quiz when she grabbed his index finger and pulled it backwards. Alex let out a yell.

Mr. Lancer looked up at the two teens angrily. "What's going on back there?"

Diana let go of Alex's finger and froze in her seat. Alex quickly pulled his hand back and rubbed his injured finger. They looked up to watch Mr. Lancer walk to their desks.

"What is going on?" Lancer demanded. "Is there cheating going on here?"

"Yes," Alex answered. "She was cheating off of me."

Diana stared at Alex in disbelief. "What? No way! He was cheating off of me! I didn't do anything!"

Alex ignored her. "She threatened me. It was terrible." Why was he acting so calm? It was as if he were only playing a game.

Mr. Lancer didn't take this as a game. "Miss Fenton, I do not take academic dishonesty lightly."

Diana stood up in her seat. She would not take the blame for this. "But I didn't do anything! He started it!"

"I don't care who started it! It takes two persons to cheat and I see two persons involved. You both will be punished." Lancer walked back to his desk.

"But-"

"No buts, Miss Fenton! Now sit down!"

Diana obeyed. She stared at her desk and only looked up when Mr. Lancer returned with a detention slip. He placed one on her desk and one on Alex's. "You both will serve detentions today and tomorrow. You two will also be receiving Fs on this pop quiz. I will also be telling your teacher about this." And with his verdict delivered, Mr. Lancer took their quizzes and returned to his desk.

Diana slammed her head on her desk. Pain shot through her head but she didn't care. First this new kid had the nerve to cheat off of her and treat it as nothing more than some child's game, and now she had to sit in a classroom for an hour today and tomorrow with this guy. She hadn't even known this kid for ten minutes and he already felt like a tumor eating away at her brain.

Whittany looked back at Diana and tapped her head. Diana looked up at her friend. Whittany tried to give her an encouraging smile but Diana's irritable expression didn't change.

"Well," Diana began. "I know what I'm doing after school today."


	3. Chapter 3

Unlike most days, Diana didn't want the school day to end. This unusual behavior was only because she dreaded her afterschool sentence. She wasn't looking forward to seeing that blonde boy again. Luckily for her, he was in no other classes she had. But that thought only gave her slight joy which faded once the final bell rang.

She groaned as she walked with her friends down the hall.

"Detention, Diana? I thought you were better than that." Michael teased.

Diana didn't respond. She stared at the hallway floor, scowling. Michael noticed her angered expression and felt instant guilt. "Sorry about that, I was joking."

Diana shook her head but didn't look up. "You're fine. It's not you I'm angry with."

"It's that cute new kid she's peeved at," Kelly giggled. "I wish it were me with the detention, that way I could talk to him."

Diana rolled her eyes. "You want 'im? Have 'im. I want nothing to do with him. But if you really mean it, I'd appreciate you taking my place." Diana smiled and elbowed Kelly's arm.

"Oh I would, Dee, I really would but I have cheer to get to and I can't afford to miss one practice. That Macy's been trying to take my post as captain all year. I will not let her take it!" Kelly stood triumphantly.

"Uh huh, you do that." Diana answered, uninterested. To her dismay, the four of them had arrived at the classroom detentions were held. Diana looked over at her friends and pouted. "Please don't leave me!" She whined.

Kelly just smiled and grabbed Whittany's arm. "Sorry, we got places to be." Without waiting to hear an answer, Kelly dragged Whittany off down the hall and was gone. Diana turned to Michael and continued with her puppy eyed frown.

Michael stood there a moment then just walked away. Diana watched him leave, her frown bigger. "I hate you all so much!" She pathetically cried.

She stood outside the classroom a moment. She decided to go in once she realized her friends weren't coming back. Diana sighed and walked into the classroom.

There weren't many in there, five or six students, tops. Diana smiled a little once she noticed the new kid was no where in sight. She walked up to the teacher's desk where Mr. Johnson, the regularly scheduled detention teacher, was reading a book. He looked up at Diana, not showing much emotion.

"Well Miss Fenton, what a surprise. Haven't seen you in here in a while. I thought you'd changed your dastardly ways." He smiled gently.

"Nah, guess not." Diana answered. Diana pulled the pink detention slip from her black handbag that hung by her hip. The bag was decorated with a smiling, cartoonish looking bat.

Mr. Johnson grabbed the detention slip as Diana handed it to him. "Very well. Take a seat."

Diana followed her instructions and sat in one of the seats in the front row. Maybe she could do this. He wasn't even here yet. Maybe she'd gotten lucky and he was skipping.

All thoughts of joy perished as Diana watched a student walk through the door. "No. Just no…" Diana moaned to herself. He wasn't skipping after all.

Alex Blade looked over to where Diana sat, head face down on her desk, and smiled. Diana didn't see this and continued to bang her head against the desktop.

After giving the teacher his detention slip and "apologizing" that he was late, Alex strolled over to Diana's desk and tapped his fingers on the wooden tabletop. "Well hello," He greeted. "Fancy meeting you here."

Diana looked up at him and scowled. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Aw, that's not nice." Alex smiled.

Mr. Johnson looked up from his book. "Is there trouble, you two?"

Alex looked over at him and grinned. "Nope. No trouble here. We're best friends."

Diana looked at him in disbelief. "The hell…?"

"Best friends, eh?" Mr. Johnson asked. "Well that won't do. Mr. Blade, move to the other side of the room."

Alex shrugged and obeyed. He looked back at Diana and smiled.

Diana screamed internally and continued to bang her head on the desk.

"Alright," Mr. Johnson began. "I want no talking."

No talking? Fine. That meant Alex couldn't talk to her. Diana would just spend the next hour doodling, staring into space and contemplating on the meaning of life, or, god forbid, homework. She could do this. Ignoring him would be easy.

After about ten minutes, Mr. Johnson's phone rang. He answered it and listened for a moment. He only answered in 'mhms' and 'uh huhs' and finally ended with an 'I'll be right there'. He looked up and faced the students. "I'm needed in the teacher's lounge. I'll be back shortly, ten minutes at the most. I trust all of you to behave, despite my better judgment."

Diana just stared as his words hit her ears. "Say what now?"

Mr. Johnson didn't even hear Diana's question. He was already out the door. Like clockwork, just as he left the chattering of the students began.

Out of all the times the teacher could have left the room, why did it have to be the time when Diana needed an authority figure's presence most? She cautiously moved her eyes toward Alex. He was smiling at her from across the room. "Dear god, no…"

Alex got up from his desk and made his way over to her.

"Kill me…"

He got closer.

Diana cupped her hands together. "Oh please, detention gods, strike him down now! I command thee!"

Her prayers weren't answered.

Alex took a seat in the desk next to her. "Detention gods?"

Diana looked over at him and grimaced at his presence. "GAH! Why, detention gods? Why?" She cried aloud, and quite dramatically. "What wrong have I done to you? This means no more virgin sacrifices for you!"

"Virgin sacrifices? I want in." Alex said. Diana couldn't really tell if he was kidding or not.

Instead of questioning him, she glared at him. "No! The detention gods only serve me! You don't get to sacrifice anything!"

Alex plastered on a fake pout. "Aw, that makes me sad."

"The detention gods don't care about your feelings!" Diana shouted, maybe a bit too loud. Diana looked around to see the rest of the once chattering students now staring at her. Embarrassed, she hid her face in her long dark hair and once again started to bang her head against the desktop. Alex laughed at this. Diana, however, wasn't fond of his reaction. She lifted her head and glared at him once more.

"Okay, is it your soul duty to make me want to murder myself?"

"Might be. Am I doing a good job of it?" He smiled.

"I'll put it this way, you're like a tumor. The terrible, painful, lethal kind."

Alex laughed. "That's the first time I've heard that one."

Diana scowled at his laughter. She looked away from him and stared at the desktop, giving no reply.

"Aw, did I upset you?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"Go away, tumor."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Tumor!" Diana stood up and glared down at the boy. Alex stared back with a blank expression, unsure of a comeback. After a moment, Diana discontinued her icy dagger glares and sat down at her desk. The two remained silent for a few minutes.

"So," Alex finally said. "Do you call all the new kids tumors?"

Without looking at him, Diana answered, "Not usually considering I never talk to any new kids. You seem to want to break that streak of mine."

Alex chuckled. "Of course, it's my life's work. But it appears you think you're too good for newbies."

"I didn't say that."

"Might as well have, but it's alright. Some people think they're too good to have friends."

"Hey, I have friends!" Diana barked.

"Oh, ya mean the ditzy blonde, the wannabe jock, and the nerd? Sure they are. Nice little group you got goin on, by the way." Alex smiled.

She gave him a puzzled look. "How do you even know them?"

"I saw you talking to them at lunch." Alex answered with a smile.

Diana rolled her eyes. "Right."

"How do you even fit in with them? I mean you're…um…I'm not sure what you are. You look like a punk poser."

Diana's nostrils flared. "A what now?"

Alex returned it with a smile.

Diana didn't enjoy his answer. "Well at least I have friends! Look at you, being the tough loner and all. It's pathetic! And you take joy out of making a poor and innocent girl miserable!"

"Innocent?" Alex laughed. "Hell no. There's no way. How many drugs have you tried in the past month, princess?"

"That's confidential." Diana answered through scowling teeth.

Alex shook his head and chuckled. "Right."

Diana continued to glare. "You still haven't told me your excuse for being friendless."

"Well, as you could tell I just got here. Plus I'm not interested in other people."

Diana cocked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Then why do you choose to annoy the hell out of me?"

Alex leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I'm bored and, unlike the majority of this student body, you looked like someone I could have an intelligent conversation with. Apparently I was wrong."

"Oh, it wasn't just because you thought I was pretty?" Diana smirked.

Alex laughed. "Nope. You're not even pretty."

Diana stared, an overly shocked expression on her face. "What?"

He smiled. "Mhm. Not even remotely."

Diana's bottom lip quivered. "But…how could you say that?"

"What did you want me to do? Lie and say you were gorgeous?" Alex chuckled.

Diana looked away, still pouting. "Yes…"

Alex rolled his eyes at her charade. "Now I'm questioning why I ever thought I could have a worthy conversation with you in the first place." He muttered.

Diana threw her icy daggers again. Alex only smirked. "Just leave me alone," Diana commanded, though with a hint of defeat in her voice. "This is all your fault anyway."

"What's my fault?"

She shot him a death glare. "The detentions, moron! It's your fault we're in here! _You_ just HAD to copy off of my paper, which were filled with wrong answers by the way so that would get you nowhere!"

Alex gave her an unimpressed look. "Well, how the hell was I supposed to know you didn't know shit?"

"You don't! Because you don't know me at ALL!" Diana's tone got louder. "Why did you even assume I had the right answers to begin with?"

"Hey, I didn't choose who I was put next to. And for your information, _princess_, I unlike most people, including you, give the benefit of the doubt to who looks like they deserve it. You didn't seem like the stupid ass type that litters this place so I thought I'd at least give you that! Well guess what? Not anymore!" He began to angrily laugh to himself. "If anything, you're just as bad as them!"

Diana snarled. "Fine! Think what you want about me! I don't care! Everyone else thinks badly of me, I know they do! So go ahead, join them. It doesn't make any difference to me," She looked away from him and stared angrily at the wall. "I hate you for this. I tried so hard to be the good student my parents wanted. I was the worst student in middle school and I thought I'd make a new start for high school, but no, you ruined that. Thanks."

Alex's anger subsided at this. "I see now. You're one of those people with the parents you can't impress. You try and try to be liked for who you are but it just doesn't happen, does it? So you pretend to be the good girl you know you're not. And one slip-up, once you show who you are, you have to start at square one. Isn't that right?"

Diana slowly moved her head back in Alex's direction. "Not entirely," She quietly answered. "My parents love me, maybe more than I want them too. They don't let me fight for myself, I always have to stay behind and watch them get all the action. They think I'll get myself into trouble or something because I'm irresponsible. But I have to show them that they're wrong. I can stay out of trouble without they're help. I can fight on my own…" Diana's voice trailed off and she stared down at her desk top.

Alex stared at her with empathy for a moment, not sure how to answer. He reached out his hand to touch her shoulder but she pulled away. Diana laid her head on the desk and stared at the wall.

Alex sighed. "Look, I get it. You want to show them you're not a scared little girl. Trust me, knowing you this long shows me that you're not. I know about those kinds of parents and I know they get on your nerves."

Diana moved her eyes in his direction, waiting for him to say more.

"I've had my fair share of different kinds of parents," he continued. "I know how they are so I can relate. But you're right, I don't know you, so I don't know what else to say about it."

"What do you mean you've had your fair share?" Diana asked.

He stared at her a minute, his face looked like he was contemplating something. It looked as if he wanted to answer but, in the last second, he changed his mind. "Nothing." He muttered. He got up out of the desk and placed his hands on Diana's desktop. "I can't say it was the best conversation I've had in my life but it was nice talking to you. Um, I don't think I caught your name."

"Didn't throw it." Diana replied.

Alex rolled his eyes and waited for her to answer.

She sighed. "Diana."

Alex smiled. "Alex."

He continued to give her the gentle smile, looking as if he wanted her to return with one of her own. But she wouldn't, though his sudden warmness left the corners of her mouth to turn a tad upward, reaching a sort of half smile. With that, Alex walked back the other end of the classroom where Mr. Johnson had told him to sit. And with perfect timing, the moment Alex sat back down, Mr. Johnson entered the room.

Mr. Johnson looked around at the surprisingly quiet students. "Well, I see my room is still as it was so I assume everything went smoothly." He took his seat back at his desk and returned to his book.

"Yeah, smoothly." Diana whispered to herself. She looked over at Alex who was now staring out the window, wearing the same apathetic expression he had on when she first saw him. She continued to look over at him at random intervals throughout the rest of detention. Not once did he return her gaze, treating her as if she wasn't there, as if they hadn't talked. Diana was a bit glad that she had her peace from him but, strangely enough, she couldn't help but look over at him. She didn't notice, but with every glance she gave him her face bore a small smile.


End file.
